PAWTUCKET, R.I. — If you allow them to dine on the diamond, they will come.
Nearly 6,000 people have eaten a meal on the field at McCoy Stadium this summer as part of the “Dining on the Diamond” program that the team developed after the pandemic canceled the minor league baseball season.
Now, the PawSox are taking the “Dining on the Diamond” concept on the road, bringing it to the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, which has been a tourist destination since the 1989 debut of the film starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Ray Liotta.
The “Field of Dreams” site operator, Go the Distance, is partnering with Diamond Dining, a sister company of the PawSox, to offer “Field of Dreams Dining on the Diamond,” beginning the weekend of Sept. 11-12 and continuing on several weekend nights throughout September and October.
“Our founder, Denise Stillman, had a dream of preserving this special place,” said Go the Distance CEO Tom Mietzel, who was married to Stillman until her death in 2018. “She worked tirelessly to provide a special place for all to enjoy. She would have loved ‘Dining on the Diamond,’ and our team is honored to be working with this incredible event.”
“We could not be more pleased to expand ‘Dining on the Diamond’ to the Dyersville, Iowa, site that spawned one of the greatest sports movies ever made,” said Dan Rea, PawSox executive vice president of business affairs and real estate development.
Rea is leading the new venture along with along with restaurateur Jason Emmett.
“In particular, we are grateful to Tom Mietzel for his vision and partnership, and to the dear memory of Denise Stillman, which have allowed us to bring a little bit of our ’Dining on the Diamond’ excitement out to the Field of Dreams location that’s been such a big part of baseball’s past, present, and future,” Rea said.
McCoy will host “Dining on the Diamond” in the weeks ahead, and there is now a waiting listing of more than 3,600 groups. People eat at tables in the outfield, choosing from a menu that includes ballpark staples such as hot dogs, burgers, and chicken tenders, plus steak tips, barbecue platters, and lobster rolls.
Designed by PawSox Executive Chef Tom Whalen, the Iowa menu will be similar to the one in Pawtucket while adding Midwest touches such as an Iowa pork chop plate, a pork tenderloin sandwich with fries, and sweet corn on a stick.
Go the Distance is undertaking projects such as construction of an 8,000-person ballpark adjacent to the site’s main field that will play host to an Major League Baseball game next summer in Iowa, plus youth baseball tournaments with teams from across the country.
Reservations can be made by visiting www.diningonthediamond.com.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.